Automobile-bumper



H.TAYL0H A l AUTOMOBILE BUMPER. u APPLICATION FILED NOV. I7, 1917.

1 ,338,597. Patented Apr. 27, 1920.

Homage?, Z'cwlav 'UNITED sra'frns rlgrancr terrier.

HOWARD marron or rmmnnnrnm, r'eNNsYLvANIA.

AUToMoBILnUMrnR.

To all whom it may concew:

Be it known that I, HOWARD TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automobile-Bumpers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make andA use the same.

This 'invention relates to bumpers and more particularly to a type of' bumper adaptedfor connection to automobiles.

lheavy shocks whichmay be occasioned by the impact of the bumper against any object in its path.

It is another object of the invention toI provide an improved bumper in which the partsl are simple, easily and `inexpensively manufactured, and which may be readily renewed or interchanged when necessary.

It is another ob'ect of the invention to provide for the suv stantial equal distribution of the strains generated b the com- A' pression Aof the bumperf, fore-piece to the associated carrying elements comprising the bumper.

It is one of the more important objects of the present invention to provide a bumper having a main spring member Yconnected to yielding bracket and hanger or carrying members and to provide in association therewith an auxiliary or intermediate bumper springto aid the principal bumper spring when the latter is subjected to shock strains.

VVith'these and other objects vin Iview as will be rendered manifest in the following specication and which will become clear to those skilled in the art, the inventionconsists in the whole, the construction, the combination of the parts, and in details asflnore fully 'hereinafter described and set forth in thelaipppended claims,` one embodiment of Specification of Letters letent. Patented Apr, 27, 1920, Application med November 17, i917. serrie no. 202,519,

vehicle, and j Fig. 2 is a plan view of the bumper de- 4tached from the vehicle and partly broken away to show details of construction.

While it is understood that the present invention contemplates a shock absorber which is connected in the manner here illustrated, to one type of vehicle, it is apparent' that it may be readily adapted toA various types of vehicles, the bumper in the present instance, pomprising a main, front bumper member 2` in the form of a resilient bar shown. as in the nature of a flat spring of suitable length, which -is bent at" its ends '3 3 and returned as at 4--4 sodas to form end sections 5 5 -which are adapted to be connected to a suitable supporting construe tion here indicated as comprising a U-sha ed bracket member 6 having front or wardly extendingarms 7 7, these being curvedas at 8 8 behind the end portions 5 5. `The end portions 5 5 are connectedr to the ends 8 of the bracketmember 6 pref-y erably through means o f bolts 9 9 mounted in one of theseparts. It is desirable that the ends 5 5 rest against the ends 8 8 of the bracket for play relative thereto and to secure this, the overlapping ends 8 8 or the end portions 5 5 may be provided with elongated apertures as indicated at 10- 10, in the members 5 to4 freely receive the fastening bolts 9 and thus permitl this play which will occur under certain conditions of operation.

As a further support for the transversely projecting end portions y5 5 of the main spring or bumper member 2, there is provided,vpreferably attached to each of the front arms 7, an outwardly curved resilient bracket member 11 which also is connected to lthe respective end portion 5 to permit relative .movement of these parts as described in relation to the connections between the spring brackets 8 and the ends of the members 5.

. One of the important features of the present invention is to provide an additional yielding member for the main or bumper member 2 to carry part of the strains to which this 4member is subjected and as here shown, an auxiliary spring member 12 is introduced between the central body portion of the member 2 and the parallel end portions 5-5 thereof, this spring member 12 being fastened by bolts or other suitable lmeans 13 to the central portion oi theA member 2 and having its ends bent rearwardly and laterally as at 14, the extremities of the bent portions 1-1 bearing as at '15, freely on the end portions 5--5 where they are firmly supported by the diverged bracket members 8 and 11, respectively, o'tl the hanger.

In the operation of this device, when the main bumper or tore member 2 is subjected to compression strains, by abutment with an obstacle, a portion ot' the st `ains is taken up by the auxiliary or take-up spring member 12, the ends 14 of which re-act upon the supported portions 5 and these portions in turn are yieldingly supported by the curved bracket members 8 and 11 of the hanger or carrying portion (i.

While :the bumper thus described may be connected to the vehicle in any appropriate and expedient manner, a simple manner ot' attaching the bumper to a vehicle consists in the utilization of a set ot U-clips 1G which may be-passed about brackets 17, for instance, at the fore end of the vehicle chassis, such brackets being used in the type of car illustrated to carry the fenders. From this it will be seen that the bumper can be readily attached to a car without necessitating any alteration or machine work on the vehicle or the elements connected thereto.

lt will be seen that when the cross-piece of the bracket hanger member is drawn up against the front ot' the vehicle structure, inthisinstance, against the`t`ront of the radiator and secured there by the U-clips 16, that a very substantial load may be applied vertically to the bumper without iu- Volving the destruction or material distortion ot' the bumper member since the bracket A is supported firmly byf the cross-piece., bearing Hat upon the trontiot the radiator trame.

What is claimed is :i

1. A. vehicle bumpe'i` comprising a front spring member havir g its ends each returned by a single beitll and spaced from the rear thereof, a bracket adapted to be clamped to the front )t the vehicle and having ends attached t( returned ends of the front member, and n intermediate springr member secured to x*the front member and having rearwardlybcnt ends movably bearing upon the supported rear ends of the main member.

2. A vehicle bumper comprising a front spring member, having its ends returned toward each other and spaced from the rear thereof, a bracket adapted. to be clamped to the trout of the vehicle and having Y ends attached to the inturned ends of the front men'lber, and an intermediate spring member4 secured to the front member and having rear vvardly bent ends movably bearing upon the supported rear ends of the main member.

3. A vehicle bumper comprising a U- shaped bracket member adapted to be connected to the vehicle organization and having forwardly extending arms curved toward each other at their ends with oppositely branching sides to form seats, and a bumper element, the ends ot' which are restructure adapted to be connected to the veturned to form spring bows which are connected respectively to each of the bracket branches.

f1. A vehicle bumper comprising a U- shaped bracket member adapted to be connected to the vehicle organization and having forwardly extending arms curved to` ward each other with outwardly extending side pieces attached 'to the arms, branching ends, all the ends in a common plane to form seats, and a bumper element .having a transverse front bar, connected to each of the seats ot the bracket branches.

5. A vehicle bumper comprising a bracket structure adapted-to be connected to the lve hicle organizationiand having forwardly eX- tending arms eaclfi with oppositely branching yieldable ends to form seats, a bumper element ha vinga transverse front, the ends ot which are returned to form spring bows and are movably connected to each of tlife bracket branches, and an auxiliary bowshaped spring attached to the front member and bearing against the returned ends,

respectively.

(S. A. vehicle bumper comprising a bracket hicle organization and having forwardly extending arms each wlth oppositely branching yieldable ends to 'form seats, the seats arranged in a line transverse to the vehicle body, and a bumper `element havinga transverse front, the ends ofwhich are returned to form spring bows which are connected to each of the seatstrespectively.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HOWARD TAYLoR. 

